Blogtember: Sept. 4th

If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world,

what would you do?

 

 

 

This may sound small, but I would love to actually start and learn how to do all the little hobbies/crafts/Pinterest ideas that I've always wanted to do.

 

 

On my 10 Before 30 List (Check out my tab above), I've always wanted to learn how to play guitar. Now I know 3 months isn't long to learn, but if I could have nothing better to do than learn to pluck some strings, I'd love that!

 

Maybe someday I could be as good as Brad Paisley...hey I can dream!

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Another item off of my 10 Before 30 list would be to start and finish a t-shirt quilt. I have a lot of memorable t-shirts that are sitting in boxes, just waiting to be cut up and made into an awesome quilt for our new house someday. I even have ideas for the pattern! I love the striped edge on the quilt on the left, but for the inside the right quilt would be GREAT!

 

 

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Just a couple things that I'd like to do with my spare time of 3 months :) What would you do?

 

 

 

 

 



Blogtember: Sept. 3rd

How cool is this? I found this link up from Jen at Wonderfully Unkempt's website, and I thought it was a very neat idea to keep fresh ideas on your blog. Thanks, Jenni from Story of My Life for the great link up idea!

 

   

September 3rd: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

 

Well, going off of my last name, Johnson, anyone can figure that I'm from a Scandinavian decent. Mostly Norwegian, with a bit of Swedish, German, English to name my largest portions. "Heinz 57" they always say. But I definitely can relate to my descents. Norwegian/Swedish: I'm tall and have blue/gray eyes. German: Dark hair and my love of beer. English? Now I'm not quite sure where I can find English heritage within myself, I just know it's in my blood.

 

I'm from a small town and live in a new small town, hence my blog name. I feel that the people around me in the small community have made me for who I am, and I appreciate that. I appreciate that people like to know what's going on in my life, even if they heard it from someone other than myself. That's OK. That's how a small town works. Yeah, it can bite you in the ass sometimes too when the news is on a bad note, but it all comes around full circle.

 

My mom has been my best friend through it all, and I've learned some great qualities from her. Being organized and independent are the traits I will forever will be grateful that she gave me. She also gave me the gift of thrifty shopping. "Never buy anything full price." I always think about that, whether it be a new sweater or a tube of toothpaste.

 

As for another money aspect, passed down from my Grandpa and Grandma Scott, I inherited money smarts. "Never buy anything that you can't afford right now." He was a cash man. He bought his cars, NEW, in cash. Now, that would probably never happen in my scenario, but I have never gotten into credit card debt, EVER.

 

My college, Concordia College in Moorhead, MN has shaped me into being a true, well rounded thinker. Thinking of how other's will see it: other cultures, men vs. women, age, etc. I see a lot of people these days that are so closed minded that it drives me insane. So thank you Concordia.

 

I could go on and on, but these are some great aspects of what makes me, me.

 

 

This is It

I'm back!!!!

Good lord it's been a long time. I get so caught up reading other people's blogs that I have forgotten about my own! Oh and that darn wedding planning and house buying stuff. That takes a lot of a person's time, I tell ya.

But I have some fun news to share. I'm getting my ass back in gear with losing weight. I've been struggling lately because of the all the stress the home buying process has been causing me, and just life in general. I can't seem to kick my habits of junk food and sitting on the couch.

Luckily, my future SIL, Trista, was kind enough to invite me to join the Border Battle Challenge put on by Victory 4 You in Hudson, WI. It's a virtual challenge made possible by Facebook and TeamBeachBody.com. You essentially have to log all of your workouts on a calendar on the Team Beach Body website, 5 days of the week. Your calendar at the end of the month gets turned into your "coach" and then turns all of your workouts into points. There are 2 teams: The Vikings, and the Packers. Get the Border Battle title now? I have selected to be on the Vikings team, of course, and hopefully we'll do well! There are other sideline ways to earn points, such as posting a challenge picture on Facebook, achieving your goal, and many other ways that will be shared with me along the way. The challenge starts today, September 3rd and goes until November 24th (Vikings vs. Packers game).

I hope this challenge works for me to get going. It's going to keep me accountable because all of these people rely on each other's workouts to earn the points and win the challenge! I really REALLY need to lose this weight for the wedding. I told myself that I'm not trying on wedding dresses until I lose weight, hopefully around 20 pounds. And that's the fun part of the wedding planning! I can't wait to see myself in a beautiful gown.

I have my before pictures finally done. They're not pretty, let me tell you. Ready to rip your eyeballs out? Don't be too scared...here you go:

Before Measurements:

Weight: 244 ( A little heavier than normal; I think it's because of the huge NJ's breakfast and shrimp alfredo that night!)
Waist: 43
Hips: 45.5
Chest: 47.8
Right Arm: 15
Left Arm: 14.8
Right Thigh: 25.8
Left Thigh: 26

Ugh....seeing me like this makes me want to vomit. How I've let myself go the past 5 years. My biggest troubles, if you're too blind to see them, are definitely my inner tube tummy, my back boobs, and a little in my flappers. I've always had broader shoulders, even when I was thinner, so I'm not concerned with that.

Well here goes nothing! Now I have my future SIL and a coworker to keep my accountable and on schedule. I sure hope this helps! Wish me luck!